Crooked Pathways
by SernaJ
Summary: A few differences, and how much it can change one's path.
1. Chapter 1

"What's wrong, Professor Stein?" I asked, feeling slightly nervous.

"You have been acting quite strange lately, Maka. You don't look so well either. Soul also has been worried. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" I cringed.

"No, I'm fine, really. Just had trouble sleeping lately, with the trouble we have been having with Arachnophobia... them getting hold of the BREW and all..." at this moment someone approached us.

"Oh, here you are, Maka..."

Thank god. It was Crona.

"Hm? Oh, hello there, Crona. Right, I promised you a study session, didn't I?"

From the corner of my eye I saw Stein twisting his screw.

"Yeah, but you look like you're busy..." He glanced at Stein.

"Don't worry, I was just leaving. Have fun studying!~" Professor then turned and lighted his cigarette, walking away."

"...I think he's suspecting something." Crona hung his head and clutched his elbow.

"M-maybe we should tell somebody..."

Suddenly we were both squezzed in a tight hug from behind.

"What would you like to tell? You know you can tell your god everything! Don't worry, I won't tell anybody!~ It 's kinda obvious though, with how you have been acting..." He nughed me in the side.

"Huh?"

I felt myself panicking.

If Black*Star noticed something was wrong here, then probably everyone had! I can't think what would my mother think of me if she knew that I...

"C'mon! Tell me the details!"

Okay. Now I don't know what he's talking about.

"What details? What are you talking about?" I kneeted my brows together.

"You're dating, right?" My jaw hit the floor.

"Uh, eh, what?"

I was at a loss for words.

"Well, as I said, my mouth is shut. See you in class lovebirds!" He let go and started strolling down the hallway.

"I'm going to chop him so hard if he tells anybody!"

What was he thinking, it's obvious we're not together...right?

 _"That's actually a great excuse..."_ I cringed at the voice.

 _"It wuldn't be suspicious if you spend time together."_ Crona looked very nervous.

"I don't know how to deal with that."

Me neither. But I guess it wouldn't be so bad, really. And indeed, it would explain our behaviour.

It wouldn't be good if the conversation from today happened again. That was too close.

Still, it would be quite emabarassing. Yet it's better than the actuall truth. Judging by Crona's face, he thought the same.

 _"You should now go and share the "big news". You will act your role for a while and when they consider it normal, we will proceed with the plan. They'll never know what hit them."_

The smirk in the voice was evident. I felt the presence slip away. Then Crona started trembling.

What if they find out anyway? They already know that there's a spy in the school. They probably suspect Crona- with his connections to witches.

But I? A father Death Scythe, mother legendary meister, myself a perfect student. There are other suspects anyway.

Stein for example. It would appear, that he killed BJ.

He claimed to be at his lab at the time, but it wouldn't be surprising if he simply forgot due to his madness.

That's what everyone thinks anyway. Thanks to my "resorces" I know better.

Also, recently, Justin Law went missing.

Along with Kim and Jaqueline. Not much is known about Justin, I don't think many noticed him beeing gone.

I'm more worried with Kim and Jackie. They aren't really suspects, they're "children" after all.

Death probably knew about Kim for a long time, just didn't render it dangerous.

They fell into Arachnophobia's hands. I don't know the details, but it's better than not knowing.

I'd love to tell everybody, but I can't...obviously. I grinded my teeth together. If I had been more cautious, none of this would happen.

I shook my head. It's not the time for me to go over something I can't change.

Crona looked at me.

"Let's go then..." I nodded and started walking towards the class.

This was going to be a rough week.

* * *

...I don't know how to write, sorry. I would really appreciate some help with spelling for example. There are bound to be some.

I have a vague idea of how this story will go, but I will update it very seldom.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Before we noticed, it rung. Thanks to all distractions, we were a mile away from the classroom, so we had to run. We went into the class holding hands. We excused ourselfs to the professor. I ran up the stairs to our seats, Crona lagging behind me. He looked like he was going to hide somewhere at any moment. I didn't feel much better, everyone was staring at us. I was late to class after all. That never happens.

At my right, Soul turned towards me and whispered: "We are having a test next week. Stein was just saying what the subjects are."I muttered a thank you and started writing notes.

The lesson passed quickly. "So, how did your "study" date go?" Asked Black*Star beaming a smile at us.

"We did't have it yet. Maybe you didn't notice, but we hadn't really had time for that."

I turned to my own musings. This was the perfect time to tell them, but for some reason, I was very nervous about it.

"Oh, and, you see..." A loud *splorch* was heard.

"These two doofers are together now. So yes, the cow got herself an obedient wimp as a slave. And it doesn't help that I feel everything this fuck does. Fun-frickin-tastic!"

After that, he disappeared back inside Crona. Everybody stood still for a moment.

Well, this solves the problem of telling everybody. Ragnarok was so loud that the whole school must have heard.

"I'm sorry Ragnarok..." Crona murmured.

"Uh...was he joking?" Soul asked.

"Actually, no, it's the truth. I would have informed you if he hadn't interrupted."

"You didn't look like you would. I think Ragnarok helped you there, didn't think he had it in him. Oh, and if he comes out now and screeches something like "I'm always helpful!" I **will** burst out laughing."

Thankfully, Ragnarok didn't come out. I didn't want my ears ruined.

"That's wonderful, Maka. I'm so happy for you!"

Tsubaki smiled at me.

"And here I thought I would be special to know...you're ruining my road to greatness!"

"Yeah, I know. Get over it." I glanced at the hallway clock. "Ok, now we seriously need to study.

I prompted Crona to come with me and bid our friends goodbye. I checked my bag for my father's ID. It was right there, between my textbook and notebook.

If I wanted to complete my "mission" I had to reach to classified sections of the library. I'll also get some study books for Crona. He does need them. And they'll be a perfect cover. I turned my head to speak to him.

"Well, looks like they buy it."

"Uh-uh... but I don't like lying. It makes me want to run..."

"I figured. But don't worry, they just thought you were nervous about them knowing. Anyway, when we get to the library, we will pretend to study like we were supposed to, I will check the building plans and you will do your homework."

I sighed. Checking the plans will be way better than wandering around the dungeons- less chance of getting caught. The full plans were kept at the fourth level, for "some" reasons. You didn't have to sign the book's card if you didn't borrow it outside.

Talking about borrowing, I still haven't given back Eibon's book. I was still trying to copy some of the illustrations into my own notebook- when we finally find the storage it will be beneficial to know what does what and what it looks like.

Still, this school is huge. The dungeons are even bigger- plans for it won't be small, that I'm sure of.

* * *

"Jealous, Soul?"

"Huh?" I turned my head towards Black*Star. What is he blabbing about now?

"I asked if you were jealous! The answer is obvious though, just look at your face!"

Jealous? The hell?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Black*Star grinned at me.

"Say what you want, I, your god, know best anyway!" And he stormed of. Yay.

"Are you really?"

Oh, right, Tsubaki was also here.

"Seriously, I'm not... it's just... this isn't very like Maka."

"Hm, you're right. I didn't think she was the type to start going out. And only a few months, too..."

"Exactly! I mean, Crona is alright, well, now, that is, but he isn't the type either. About Maka- she is barely home, I guess you could blame that on her spending time with him, but when she is, she's only reading! I know she's a bookworm, but that's a little too much. And when I tell her to relax, take a breather, go play with us or something, she tells me to piss off and locks herself in her bedroom! Ugh!"

"It's alright Soul, I understand. Maybe she's got an important project to work on? Or needs to better herself, maybe try asking if you could help with whatever she's doing, or just wait it out. And if she doesn't stop, or it gets worse, will inform professor Stein or someone else. Also, we can always give her a nice big, group hug. that always helps. Although, I'm almost sure that she'll get over it eventually. She's a strong girl. For now, don't worry about it." Tsubaki smiled reassuringly.

"Thanks, I wanted to let it out for some time. And you're right- I shouldn't worry so much. Maka is stong, maybe she doesn't realize that, but we, her friends do. A little help in doing so won't hurt her."

So, when she comes back home, she'll be greeted by a nice, tasty cake with a dose of humor. That'll surely better her mood.

And if she refuses- a slap across the cheek and a speech about being stupid should wake her from whatever is plaguing her.

This was a good plan.

I grinned.

"Well then, I should get going and prepare for her return. Thanks again!"

I ran off towards the apartment.

Let's bake that cake!

* * *

 **Hurrah, I updated! :D Well, I finally got a computer. I still need to get myself a nice program to write, though.**

 **This was a little longer- 1000 words instead of 700. A little improvement, but a one nonetheless.**

 **Thank you for the reviews :) They were a nice motivation- I probably wouldn't write anything until August.**

 **I'll TRY to update sooner (and longer!).**


	3. Chapter 3

This wasn't going good at all.

The pages were all crimpled and yellowed, it was a miracle that they weren't dust yet! I knew our school was old, but I didn't thought it was THAT old. I guessed we are going to wander through the dungeons after all.

And what if it wasn't in the dungeons? The rest of the school has many empty rooms- it would be easy to hide something in there, and no one would think that there is a bunch of powerful artefacts in an empty classroom... I felt a beginning of a headache coming up. Again. I guess sleeping less than 7 hours does take a toll on one's health. But I couldn't help it- every time I went sleep I would wake up on the floor, recovering from a nightmare I couldn't even remember. Awful.

Delicately, I closed the book and glanced at what Crona was doing. It looked like some doodles. They weren't bad- quite nice actually. Maybe he could help me with copying those drawings... A loud grunt woke me from my musings.

"It's almost 10 PM, children. If you want to borrow the books, you'll need to sign their cards, if you don't- then I'm afraid you'll need to put them away. Library is closing for today."

The librarian smiled at me apologetically- he liked me, I was after all one of the most common visitors, what librarian wouldn't like someone like that? That fact came with many privileges- even if I borrowed books for more than 2 weeks, I didn't have to pay the fine. He also was more likely to help me find the book I was looking for.

Still- no one shall ever be in the library after 10 PM on his watch. Ever.

"We were just going to leave. I won't be borrowing this book- it's quite old, I'm afraid of ruining it. And the others- I think Crona would like to take them." Crona nodded and cast his gaze downwards.

"Alright then, I'll put the book away, and about these- he turned towards Crona- just come with me to my stand. You are free to go, Miss Albarn."

"Well, I'll get going then- I moved to hug Crona, he lightly hugged back- see you tomorrow!"

"Bye Maka..."said Crona with a smile. Ugh, why does his smile look so cute? And yes- everyone thought that, not just I, right? I flushed a bit.

I went to the exit thinking about what happened today. I felt a little guilty for forcing Crona to pretend he was my boyfriend, he can't really deal with normal relations, this must be a big burden... Now to the apartment- I was very tired, time really does go fast in the library- not that Soul would get that. I sighed inwardly and prepared myself for a sure to come scolding.

* * *

I looked up at the clock- 10:20, what was taking her so long? She shouldn't be coming through the city at that time. Hopefully, she decided to stay at Crona's. I looked around the living area, looking for her bag to pack it up for tomorrow. I face palmed- it wasn't there of course. She hadn't been home yet, so why would her bag be? I was such an idiot sometimes.

Now that I thought of it, I could have offered to take her bag home- it looked rather heavy, and it would make her more tolerable when she came back- a man without a hurting shoulder is happier than a man with one, right? I glanced at the clock again.

Well, looks like she won't be coming home after all- and all that effort to comfort her- all for nothing! The cake won't go bad overnight, but the same didn't apply for my frame of mind. I snorted and started preparing for bed.

All of the sudden, I heard the door being unlocked- so she came after all, not thinking about her own wellbeing. How so very Maka. I let out a sigh and put up a mask of indifference. She must be tired as much as I am- it wouldn't do well to have a fight now. Especially if said fight always ended with a bent in my head- not cool. Not cool at all. I ran to the door just when it opened.

"You're finally back, Maka. You don't even know how worried I was." I smiled and closed the door behind her. Weird, she looked rather pale for someone who just came all the way from school. I frowned. "Hey, are you alright? You don't look so well..."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just couldn't sleep lately."

"What? Why? What's the matter? Do you want to talk about it?" My voice begun to rise as I talked, I must have looked quite stressed, but sitting in one place for hours does that to people."

"No...but, maybe...yes, yes, that would help I think, just, not today, okay? We're both exhausted, it would be better if we were a little less tired. And it's always better to talk things in the morning. It makes your head a bit lighter."

"All right, if you are sure..." She's definitely hiding something. And it's not what she wants us to believe it is. But how could I find out without lowering to petty stalking? I'll have to think about that. I hope I won't forget about it, though. Whatever's happening could be something nasty. Like really, really nasty.

...shit! I'm doing this again...

I 'm thinking too much about this. I mean, if this wasn't a serious matter and Maka found out that I've been worrying so much about her, she would probably call me an idiot and maka-chop me. But, well. now that I think about it, I would prefer that over this endless uncertainty. Oh, and in the meantime I would have something interesting to do. Hah, I'm going to play detective like some 5 year old kid.

"Yeah, screw you, Tsubaki. I'm taking this into my own hands! And I'll solve this mystery!" And with that thought I went straight to bed. Great minds need lots of sleep, after all. Geez, I sound so stupid. I don't care though.

"Goodnight, Maka!"

"Goodnight, Soul."

* * *

I am very sorry for not submitting this earlier. For a while, I lost interest in writing, and had no idea what, when and how. Still, I'm not abandoning this story. An update may take a month, or more, but it will happen. Stay determined, guys.


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